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AIDS
Orphans in Kitui- Background Facts
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Estimates
of the HIV Infected Population of Kitui/Mwingi
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District
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Urban- No. Infected
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Rural- No. Infected
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Total No. Infected
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Prevalence
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Kitui
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546
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14,169
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14,715
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6%
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Mwingi
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320
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8,304
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8,624
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6%
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Source:
HIV/AIDS in Kenya 2001, booklet on the Estimated Prevalence of
HIV in Kenya by District, 2001 |
Aids
Orphans in Kitui
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| The
National AIDS Control Council (NACC) in Kenya reported
in 2003 that the number of people infected with
HIV/AIDS was 2.2 million, with 214,000 deaths among young
adults die to AIDS. It was estimated that in the year
2000 there were 900,000 orphans due to HIV/AIDS deaths,
expected to rise to 1.5 million by 2005. The UNAIDS and
UNICEF publication “Children on The Brink, July 2002”
reported that the total number of orphans at that time was 1,659,000,
12.5% of the total number of children in Kenya.
Almost 900,000 were AIDS orphans. |
The
effects of this epidemic on children who have lost
parents due to AIDS are manifold. Aids orphans tend to
drop out of school due to lack of financial and material
support. They suffer discrimination, even by relatives
and guardians, often being disinherited. |
| It
is estimated that around 20% run away from
guardians/relatives and resort to living in the streets
of urban centres where they face higher risks of HIV/AIDS
infection. Girls become more vulnerable to all kinds of
abuse including engaging in survival sex, and up to
90% of the street children turn to drug abuse. A
few fortunate orphans are adopted and supported by
relatives and friends of departed parents. |
Many
children are HIV positive, because pregnant women can
pass on HIV infection in utero,
at the time of birth or through breastfeeding.
Statistics indicate that about 30-40 percent of babies
born to infected mothers will be infected. However, all
children born to infected mothers are at risk of becoming
orphans when their parents die of AIDS. Currently about
100,000 to 120,000 children under 5 years old are
infected. |
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| The number of households headed by children is rising as
more are orphaned through the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Should
their parents die before them, then the children suffer
double tragedy of being orphans and HIV positive. Orphans
who are HIV positive are more vulnerable because of their
health status. In addition to all other needs of other
orphans, medical care and nutritional support is very
essential, and these become the priorities. |
There
are no available statistics to show the life expectancy
of HIV positive children.
Factors
like medical care, nutrition, community support systems,
disease prevalence in the area and the general
environment where the child is living contribute largely
to the health of the child .
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| THE
PROBLEMS FACED BY HIV/AIDS ORPHANS |
| Losing
a parent, and possibly being separated from brothers and
sisters, is a stressful experience which may cause the
orphaned child to lose hope in his/her future. There is
added stress when the orphans know the cause of death of
parents. The care givers also suffer as they try to hide
the truth from the orphans. A common theme among adults
facing the challenge of living with HIV/AIDS is the need
to meet the challenge of stigma and discrimination by
benefiting from mutual support. Orphans, especially where
parents died of HIV/AIDS, worry about the future. |
Excessive unresolved anxiety may trigger behaviour
problems such as aggression, emotional withdrawal and
other antisocial behaviour. Denial,
fear and stigma compound the stress of families dealing
with AIDS. Parents who have HIV/AIDS may not be able to
deal with their children’s physical and emotional
needs. Children on the other hand express their mixed
feelings of grief, anger, fear and apprehension as they
see parents weaken physically. By the time the parents
succumb to death the children are already overwhelmed by
the experience. |
| After
losing their parents, orphans invariably experience food
insecurity, shortage of clothing and inability to pay for
medical care. Such
insecurity could push them into child prostitution or
into the streets.
Orphans
frequently fail to inherit their parent’s property
which may be appropriated by relatives or other people.
Part of the process of dealing with HIV/AIDS is to
encourage infected parents to discuss their health status
with their children, and make arrangements for their
future. |
Even
outside of the HIV/AIDS issue, there is a serious problem
of child labour in Kenya. When care-givers are short of
resources, the orphans, and especially the girls, may be
used to generate cash. Working for a wage exposes a child
to economic and sexual risks.
Girls
orphaned by AIDS may also be married off at an early age
to relieve their families of financial burden.
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| The
chances for HIV/AIDS orphans going to school are reduced
by the fact that those who are open to foster them are,
in most cases, poor families who can hardly provide for
their own families. Children may be required to work in
the home or farm, tending stock or fetching water, when
they should be attending school. Most Kenyans see
schooling as the only way to improve their status. |
Fear
of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWAs) is widespread,
and communities react by isolating and discriminating
against them and their children. Fear of being known to
be having HIV and AIDS, is a powerful deterrent to people
seeking voluntary testing and counselling and disclosing
HIV positive status to family members and friends.
Parents often fear informing their children of being HIV
positive, which tends to increase children’s anxiety
and fear of not knowing what is happening to their
parents. |
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Orphans
are especially stigmatised by the mere fact that their
parents died of AIDS. Consequently they are discriminated
against with few people willing to associate with them.
Continuous sensitisation and education is still very
necessary in order to enhance the level of acceptance.
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